Monday, September 7, 2015

Oregon Trip 2015 - Day 5 - Shore Crabbing

Friday - August 7th
Crabbing
We tried another "something new" this trip.  We usually rent little boats and go crabbing in a marina, but this year we tried crabbing from the shore with traps we bought.  It's always fun to try new things!
Darwin setting up the crab traps
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Just across the water from us were a whole bunch of sea lions lounging on the beach.  They really weren't very far away and it was fun to watch them playing in the water and slapping their tails as they would dive down for food.
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Throwing the traps out.
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The girls sure had fun playing in water and the sand!
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We found lots of pieces of jellyfish, but only a couple whole jellyfish washed up on the beach. The girls thought they were pretty cool, especially Savannah.  photo DSC09850.jpg
 Touching the jelly!
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One minute Savannah was playing in the sand and the next minute I looked over and saw her getting cozy in the sand! Cute little thing.  She was getting sleepy, obviously--it was hard for her to miss naps some of the days we were on vacation. It was hard for us too sometimes :)
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 Rori working on making a sand castle
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We had a little picnic lunch on the beach too.  That's always fun :)
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Grandpa and Andrea getting some shore crabbing tips from a local guy.
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Found some seaweed!
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Measuring a crab we caught!
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Good job, Lovey!
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As I said, the girls had fun playing in the water and the sand :) I should have had them wear their swim suits, but it was chilly so I didn't.  Obviously they weren't bothered by the cold ocean water.  Silly kids!
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When we were all done crabbing (which we didn't get to keep any because they were all either too small or female and had to be thrown back in) we got the girls changed into dry clothes and headed down the street for some yummy ice cream at a little place called Eleanor's!
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The group walking to Eleanor's
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Rori can't eat ice cream because of her dairy allergy, but she got a giant chocolate chip cookie the size of her face to eat all by herself instead!
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 It looks pretty tasty to me!
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Savy stole shared an ice cream cone with me.  We should have gotten one just for her!
(You can still see her slightly black eye from when she bumped into the glass dining table our first night at the beach house, and her mosquito bites on her forehead.  Poor thing!)
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 Aunt Georgiana is pretty much a pinball queen!  She was super excited when she saw a couple of pinball machines and had to show us her skills.  It was fun to watch her in action!
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Savy had fun playing on some of the other games while the rest of us watched Aunt Geo play pinball.
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Aurora got to have a go at playing pinball.  She felt pretty special :)
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Savy got to have a try too!
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One of our favorite things to do on vacation was to squeeze in a little nap!  It was so great to have time to nap!!
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I spent a lot of time getting caught up on our blog while we were out there :)
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It was so nice to just have time together as a family without our normal everyday obligations.  There was something great about each day we were there.  Thanks to another great day at the beach, everyone!

Sunday, September 6, 2015

Oregon Trip 2015 - Day 4 - Clamming and Kites

Thursday - August 6th
Clamming
This was our first full day at the beach.  The first item on our list was to attend a clamming clinic to learn the ins and outs of digging for clams.  We've gone crabbing every time we've visited the Oregon coast, but Darwin wanted to try something new and go clamming this time.  The clamming clinic was free and was held at the Lincoln City Public Library.  The girls were a little restless and Savannah and I ended up playing legos during most of the clinic, but I wasn't going to be the one doing the clamming anyway.
After the clinic was done, we randomly found this Pinocchio string puppet down the hallway from where the clinic was being held.  Once the girls saw this guy, they didn't want to leave! Haha!
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We left the library and headed to the store to get some supplies and buy fishing licenses for Darwin, Georgiana, and Andrea.  By the time we were done with that, Aurora and Savannah were ready for lunch and naps so I stayed at the beach house with them while everyone else went to experience the fun of clamming!
Oregon has very strict laws about not non-licensed people not assisting with clamming.  It was a little surprising how strict they are, but I'm sure those laws are in place for a reason.
Digging for clams!
Georgiana, Grandma (just watching), Daddy, Andrea
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I love this picture of Darwin's mom helping him because his hands were yucky from digging for clams.  Precious! :)
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More digging!
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They each had a limit of 72 clams they could take, so they were digging for a couple of hours.
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Some of the loot!
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Counting to make sure they weren't taking more than their limit.
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Our happy clammers!  Great work, guys!
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They each reached their limit of 72 clams per person, and even had to put some back!  There are 216 clams in that tote!
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Darwin and I were busy with our girls so we didn't get the chance to help clean the clams, but Georgiana and Andrea did awesome!  Thanks, ladies!
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Aunt Georgiana and Grandpa enjoying some clams back at the beach house :)
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I'm sure the clams were delicious for everyone who enjoys eating seafood.  I am not one of those people.  Darwin and the rest of my in-laws appreciate it though because it means more seafood for them!  Haha!  Thanks for making a yummy non-seafood dinner for me and the girls, Andrea!  You rock!

Kites
One pro (and also a con) of Lincoln City is that it's pretty windy.  A windy beach makes perfect conditions for flying a kite!  Darwin bought a couple of kites off of Amazon a few weeks before we left on vacation, and we only ended up using them once because of our busy scheduled while we were out there, but it was totally worth it!
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Aurora taking a turn.
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I love Savannah's face and excitement about flying a kite :)
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Daddy did a great job picking out the perfect princess kite for our girls, Aurora Nicole and Savannah Belle :)
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I was lucky enough to get a turn flying it too!
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The girls backpacks were a great substitute on our trip in place of our big, bulky diaper bag!  Their bags are the perfect size!  I'm so glad we got them!  I just had to throw that in there :)
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Aurora, Savanna, and Georgiana in the sand
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After a while, Darwin pulled out the big guns!
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The wind was really strong!  He had to hold his ground to not get pulled away! Haha!
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It was hard to get a good shot of the kite in the sky because the wind was blowing it all over the place!
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Rori watching Daddy fly his kite
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Georgiana took a turn and I thought for sure the kite was going to pull her off the ground!
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Our sweet Savannah playing in the sand :)
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Burying Aunt Georgiana's feet in the sand.
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I was pretty much always bundled up when were down at the beach.  The combination of the wind and spray coming from the ocean was chilly!  The others didn't seem to be quite as bothered by the chilliness as I was.
(That's a big beach resort behind me in the background. Just FYI.)
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While she had the chance, Aurora took another turn flying the girls kite.
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We love this shot of her lying in the sand, flying her kite :)
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And Savy took another turn too!
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Thanks for a fun day at the beach, everyone!